Fulcrumed lever type door latch mechanism



jan. 31, 1961 F. J. MooRE '2,970,000

FULCRUMED LEVER TYPE DooR LATCH MECHANISM Filed July 18, 1957 United States FULCRUMED LEVER TYPE DOOR LATCH MECHANISM Francis J. Moore, 11 2nd St. SE., Minneapolis, Minn.

Filed July 18, 1957, Ser. No. 672,649

2 Claims. (Cl. 292-238) This invention relates generally to a door latch mechanism and particularly to a mechanism wherein a transversely fulcrumed lever is provided for actuating the latch element.

It is an object of my present invention to provide a relatively simple yet highly eicient door latch mechanism which can be inexpensively produced with a minimum of parts.

It is another object to provide a door latch mechanism of the transversely fulcrumed weight actuated type wherein the weight for holding the latch element in latched position also forms the gripping handle and the latch element per se.

It is another object to provide a door latch mechanism particularly constructed to be mounted on either side of a door and adjustable to doors of varying thicknesses while providing a relatively close fitting smoothly operating fulcrumed, latch mounting lever on which the latch element is carried.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description, made inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a latch mechanism embodying my invention and showing the same as mounted on a hinged door;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the parts of my latch mechanism.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings, I provide a hinged door S surrounded by -a door frame 6 which is provided with a stop member 7. An opening is cut through the door in closely spaced relation to the free edge a thereof to receive a mounting lever 8 therethrough. Said opening is of sufficient size to permit said lever 8 to move up and down therewithin.

The elongated latch mounting lever 8 extends through said opening and has an upstanding pull type handle member 9 xed thereto to form a bell crank type actuating and mounting unit with said lever 8. A mounting bracket 10 is securely fixed to the outside of the door S and is provided with an aperture of the same general cross-sectional shape and size as the lever 8 to provide a fulcrum for said lever and permit the same to be raised at the end remote therefrom by pulling out- 2,970,000 Patented Jan. 31, 1961 wardly on the upstanding handle 9. A mounting plate 13 surrounds said opening through the door on the inside thereof and the outer bracket 10 and mounting plate 13 are securely interconnected as by the elongated bolts 14 as best shown in Fig. 3 which extend through the thickness of the door.

A latch element 11 is fixed to the inner end portion of the lever 8 as by receiving the lever within a suitable aperture provided therein and anchoring the same by an anchoring set screw 11a in the desired adjusted relation with respect to the inner mounting plate 13 as best shown in Fig. 3. The latch element 11 is made from relatively heavy material which normally urges the lever 8 downwardly at its inner end and a stationary latch receiving flange 11b extends in the form shown transversely across the entire width of said latch element 11 but is provided with recesses at the end portions thereof to receive a fixed latch element 12 which in the form shown is secured to the door stop 7. A sloping camming surface is provided on the xed latch element 12 and the portion of the flange aligned therewith rides up on this camming surface and is dropped down under the weight of said latch element 11 behind an abutment stop portion 12a of the fixed latch 12.

An inwardly projecting support bar 13a is provided on the inside plate 13 and is received in a supporting notch on the fixed latch element 12 to support the weight of the door when the same is in closed position.

The latch element 11 is adjusted with respect to the lever 8 by the set screw 11a so that the lever will be held against longitudinal shifting movement with respect to the door since the outermost edge of the latch element 11 will engage the inner mounting plate 13 as best shown in Fig. 3. The upstanding handle element 9 will prevent inward shifting movement of the lever and the same will be held in close fitting operative relation by said elements 9 and 11, the spacing between which elements can be adjustably varied to accommodate doors of varying thicknesses.

It will be seen that I have provided a relatively simple yet highly eicient Weight operated fulcrummed lever type door latch mechanism wherein the inner latch element not only forms the weight for holding the same downwardly into latched position but also provides the latch itself as well as a gripping handle for operating the latch to release the same from the inside and for pulling the door closed from the inside. As illustrated the ange 11b may extend upwardly to provide a gripping edge along the top portion of said latch element and provide a more eflicient door pull in this manner.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention which consists of the matter shown and described herein and set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A door latch mechanism comprising an elongated lever constructed and arranged to be longitudinally inserted through a passage through a door of generally the same width as the transverse width of said lever, fulcrum means disposed a substantial distance from one side of such a door, said fulcrum means providing a fulcrum element underlying one end portion of said lever for fulcruming the same and permitting the other end of said lever to be raised upwardly out of latched position, said fulcrurn means also providing a stop limiting longitudinal shifting of the lever in one direction, an upstanding actuating handle element fixed to the end of said lever adjacent to said fulcrum element, a latch element removably attached to the other end of said lever and disposed upon the other side of the door, said latch element being adjustable longitudinally upon said lever and having laterally extending stop means extending beyond the sides of the adjacent passage opening to limit longitudinal shifting of the lever in the other direction.

2.V The-structure set forth in claim-1 and a protective mounting plate` disposed adjacentto-the opening of said passage upon the latch side of the-door,A and the stopmeans upon said latch element engaging said mounting plate.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 250,551 Lee Dec. 6, 1881 360,466 Pease Apr. 5, 1887 1,137,107 Zsuzsits Apri 27, 1915 1,453,282 Peters May 1, 1923 2,671,683 Heyman Mar. 9, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 18,475 Great Britain 1906 206,617 Great Britain Nov. 15, 1923 

